by Nurol Akma Latif
The world toady. Hmm, a rather
interesting subject but most of us have taken for granted. So, we are
teenagers. The topics for our conversations are usually gossip, guys,
shopping (for the girls) and cars, sports, chicks (for the guys). We do talk
about politics. Well, the US attack on September 11 was an interesting
subject to talk about, but mostly about how it affects our music,
entertainment and shopping interest. And with that we call ourselves the
future generation.I know it's very prejudiced of me to just classify people like that, but that's a fact. Nowadays, as we walk through shopping malls, we can see kids or teengaers, dressed up in branded clothes, wearing body accescories, with matching body piercings, handphones etc. Yes, we are modernized, so the fact is, we can afford all these stuff. But is it really necessary?
For a 13 year-old to have
her or his body pierced (belly, tougue etc), walking around in Timberland
boots and talking into a Samsung Blue-i or a Nokia 8210 handphone?I come from a very ordinary family, which is classified as an affordable family (switch_blade's Note: Your family's affordable, or you guys can afford stuff?). My dad once told me, "I won't spoil you guys by giving or buying you expensive and branded stuff. But one thing I can assure you is that if there's an ice-cream man comes by, and if other kids get a RM1 ice cream, you guys will also get your ice-cream, but it'll be a 50 cents ice-cream". So, we were told that we will always get what people get but with a better perception in which we can afford. And that was years ago when my dad told me this. At that time, I was just 13 years old and didn't understand because I was attending a very high class convent school in Kuching, Sarawak. But as I grew older, I learned what life was all about. I'm turning 19 years old tomorrow and I just got my first pair of Levi's two weeks ago.
People are blinded by
material objects, mostly teenagers. It's either in a city-based society or
even a kampung society. I'm studying in a campus situated in a quite rural
area and we're surrounded by kampungs. I'm not calling these people typical
kampung folks but they do adapt 'typical thinking' of some sort. One day, I
was in a bus when we passed by a very old kampung bus stop. There, waiting
for the bus, were two young girls, probably around 15 or 16 years old, one
wearing a very tight body tee, the other wearing a sleeveless tee, with knee
length denim skirts, terrible make-up and strapped sandals. And at that
time, I was quite confused because it is in the middle of the afternoon, and
they are taking the bus. They do come from a kampung and there's no way a
disco or nightclub could exist in the area. These are what we call wannabes.
There's this Malay quote saying, "Masuk kandang kampung, kita mengembek",
meaning that we must always try to fit in the situation or crowd. I did
well, but why can't these people, when they're supposed to know better as
they come from a very nice kampung environment where you have old folks to
teach or advise you?
Are we only to blame, or are
there other parties to be blame as well? Well, we are teenagers and we have
come to an age where we can differentiate good from bad. But some of us just
want to deny that fact and act like 5-year-olds. What is the point of having
an exterior that looks like a 20-year-old when in the head, there's just
5-year-old thinking? Where is the "future generation" concept that we
usually call ourselves, but never put it into practice? Well, I do have this
vision to help my future generation because this generation, or my
generation, is quite spoilt already. I just want to work hard, and save up
some money, make a fund for some orphanage, give them the best education and
make them a somebody. It's like the concept in "Pay It Forward". With my
contribution, I would hope that these kids I'm funding will continue raising
up orphans and so on.I'm sorry if I was quite rude or failed to understand the fact that some of these teens were brought up in such a way that they were spoilt, but it's really time for you to think and get away from that life.